


flight

by CovenWitch



Series: One Day At A Time [1]
Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: F/F, One Shot, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:01:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28122771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CovenWitch/pseuds/CovenWitch
Summary: Dani and Jamie are ready to begin their adventure after what happened at Bly, but they soon come upon their first challenge: Jamie is afraid of flying.
Relationships: Dani Clayton & Jamie
Series: One Day At A Time [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2060286
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	flight

**Author's Note:**

> !!! this mentions both the fear of flying/airplanes and fear of public speaking, so if any of these are triggering to you please be careful !!!

Dani and Jamie sat side by side at the airport, waiting for their flight to be announced. They were going to the United States so they could start over. Forget what happened at the manor, leave all the bad things behind. All the nightmares and monsters and ghosts. They were going to have a simple, normal life in America.

But as she sat there, wondering what it would be like to go back to her own country after so much time, Dani couldn’t help but notice how Jamie’s leg kept shaking anxiously beside her. Jamie herself probably hadn’t even realized it. She looked nervous. At least Dani thought she did. And she wished she knew the reason why the brunette felt that way, so she could do something about it. Jamie had always been there to comfort Dani when she needed it the most, so maybe this time Dani could do the same for her.

“So… how are you feeling about all this?” Dani wanted to know what was bothering the brunette but didn’t quite know how to ask her.

Jamie seemed surprised, like the question had suddenly woken her up from whatever it was she was thinking about.

“Sorry, Poppins, I guess I was somewhere else.”

“Oh, I just asked how you’re feeling, you know, about this.” Dani gestured to the airport and the airplanes they could see from the wide window. “Leaving your whole life behind. It must be hard.”

Jamie’s leg stopped shaking for a while. Which meant Dani had managed to distract her from whatever it was that was troubling her.

“I hadn’t even thought about that, really.” Jamie smiled to herself as she realized that. “I guess there wasn’t much of a life here for me to leave behind. Not anymore.” Now her smile was directed at Dani. “Just the future now, Poppins.”

Dani felt the same way. She felt like she had nothing to lose now. All she had to worry about was the present moment. And also the future, but she preferred not to think about that and focus on now.

Jamie jumped up her seat when a woman’s voice announced that their flight was ready to start boarding. Suddenly she was all anxious and nervous again.

“Alright then, let’s go.” she looked at Dani, who was still seating peacefully.

The blonde woman noticed how Jamie was strongly clenching her fists around the handle of her bag. She also noticed how agitated her eyes were, not being able to stop blinking and moving around. At one point they looked straight into Dani’s. It was only for a second, but it was enough to make Dani shiver. Now she was really concerned. Because during that single moment in which their eyes met, she saw the most absolute fear in Jamie. And it made her afraid too.

Jamie, the tough Jamie that she knew, was now terrified. And Dani hadn’t seen her this scared since…

She stood up abruptly and held the other woman’s arm.

“Jamie? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” she answered without even looking at her. “Come on, let’s get in the…”

“Jamie.” she was serious. Jamie realized that and stopped to look at her. “I know there’s something bothering you.”

Jamie didn’t say she was right but she admitted it with her expression.

“You can tell me.”

“You’ll laugh.”

“I won’t.”

Dani could see Jamie was about to give in. She sighed, and as she was about to start opening up, the woman’s voice interrupted the moment, asking everyone to board the flight.

“Let’s go.”

Dani didn’t protest, but it didn’t mean she’d let that go.

They boarded the plane and had just found their seats. Side by side. One by the corridor, one by the window.

“Which one do you prefer?” Jamie asked Dani as she shoved their bags into the compartment above the seats.

“Oh, I’m okay with either.”

Jamie looked at her, the fear still in her eyes.

“Can I have the corridor, then?”

“Sure.” Dani proceeded to sit down by the window and accommodate herself. Once she was settled, Jamie sat beside her.

As soon as she sat down, Jamie already started frantically putting on her seatbelt.

“You know you don’t have to do that yet, right?” Dani laughed.

“Well, it won’t hurt.” she was serious about it.

Only then Dani realized what was happening. She couldn’t believe how stupid she was for not having noticed before.

“That’s it, isn’t it? That’s what was making you nervous, what you asked me not to laugh about?”

Jamie looked back at her, already knowing where she was getting at.

“You’re afraid of flying?” Dani asked delicately, not wanting Jamie to think even for a second that she was mocking her.

“I know it’s stupid, but…” Jamie looked away, embarrassed.

“It isn’t.” Dani affirmed.

Jamie was still looking down, avoiding the other woman, when Dani gently held her hand.

“It’s not stupid. It’s completely valid.”

She wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible about the situation. So without letting go of her hand, she kept going.

“I’m terrified of public speaking. Like… really terrified.” Dani could see that Jamie’s body started to release a bit of the tension. She could feel it in her hand, too. “I physically cannot do it. My body just shuts down completely. I start shaking and sweating and I feel like throwing up.” Jamie finally looked at her, listening carefully. “I can only do it when my crowd is made of children, like my students. Otherwise I just freeze completely.”

Jamie smiled at Dani. She knew what she was doing. She felt a little piece of her heart melt because of Dani’s attempt at making her feel better and less scared. The funny thing is, it had actually worked. The love she was feeling for Dani right now replaced the fear which had been covering her entire body.

“Thanks, Poppins.” she whispered with a smile.

Dani smiled back at her, giving her hand a little squeeze.

A sound echoed through the plane, which meant it was now time to put on the seatbelts and get ready for the departure. Dani noticed that it made Jamie a bit nervous again, so she tried to think of everything she could do to make her feel better. She put her own seatbelt on and let the brunette make sure – more than once – that it was properly attached, after doing the same thing on hers.

The departure was hard. Jamie grabbed whatever she could as strong as she could. She shut her eyes tightly and breathed in and out, in and out, the way Dani kept telling her to.

Once they were in the air and going steady, she finally opened her eyes and looked at Dani, who was lovingly smiling at her.

“You okay?”

“Yeah…” she took a deep breath. “I think so.”

“Do you want anything? Water? Maybe some food? I could ask someone to…”

“I’m alright, Poppins.”

And that was all that Dani needed to know.

“Why don’t you try to get some sleep? Could be good.” Dani suggested.

“Don’t think I could fall asleep here.” she laughed.

“Well…” the blonde pointed out her shoulder. “Just lie down, and close your eyes.”

It took Jamie a moment to do as Dani said. She looked at her, searching for proof that she’d really meant it, which she found in the way Dani was looking at her. So she gave in. Why not?

She rested her head on Dani’s shoulder as she’d told her to. Jamie smiled to herself at the realization of how good and natural that felt. She closed her eyes and sooner than expected, she was able to fall asleep.

Jamie woke up startled when the plane shook violently. That terrified look was back on her face as she straightened herself up on her seat. A woman’s voice announced that they were experiencing strong turbulence and Dani quickly noticed that Jamie was starting to panic.

“Hey. It’s okay.” she tried to calm her down. “Look at me.”

But Jamie didn’t seem to listen. She was too disoriented for that.

The airplane shook one more time and without thinking Jamie reached for Dani’s hand. She didn’t even realize it, it was automatic. She squeezed it as tightly as she could. It wasn’t exactly comfortable for Dani, but she didn’t do anything to stop it. It actually made her smile. The thought of Jamie seeking her at a moment of distress.

All Dani wanted was for Jamie to feel better. She hated seeing her that desperate. So she tried her best to help her in whatever way she could.

“Jamie. Look at me.”

Dani took the woman’s face in her free hand and delicately turned it to her direction. She stroked her cheek lovingly while calmly talking to her. When Jamie’s eyes finally met her own, she started talking as an attempt to calm her down.

“It’s okay. You’re safe. I promise. I know this seems scary, but I swear to you nothing bad is gonna happen. Okay?”

Jamie took a deep breath, her eyes still locked on Dani’s, before she could answer.

“Okay.”

They kept holding each other’s hands for a while until they finally noticed that the turbulence and the shaking had already stopped. Both women tried to remember hearing anyone announce it was over, but neither of them could. They both wondered whether there wasn’t an announcement at all or whether they were so involved in each other that they missed it completely.

Even though the scary part was now over, they still didn’t let go of each other’s hands. They held tight until it was time to leave the airplane. And when it was, when everyone was already grabbing their bags and leaving, Jamie whispered a little “thank you” on Dani’s ear. She appreciated what Dani had done, trying to make her calm, trying to make her less frightened. The blonde smiled back at her as a response before they picked up their bags and left the aircraft, which now looked a lot less terrifying, or so did Jamie think.

**Author's Note:**

> heyy, thank you so much if you read this far! this is something new i'm trying out and any type of feedback is very welcome :)


End file.
